>Thanks for the apologies. Maybe this will make you feel better. I have a 21
>year old daughter that is my best friend and is going to die from a rare
form
>of cancer. She is going downhill weekly. So, if you think you are having a
bad
>day....remember it could always be worse.
>Dee

Hi Dee,
My heart goes out to you. I cannot even begin to imagine how difficult this
must be for you. When I read your email I was reminded of an email I got on
another group I subscribe to. This may or may not be helpful, but I at least
wanted to pass it on.

> Friday was 5 years post-cancer for me.  I wanted to share a few
> understandings I've come to about nutrition and health from my
> journey.  There are about a million OTHER things I learned from these
> past 5 years, but I will hold back on those lest this become
> book-length! ;-) Please keep in mind, your mileage may vary.
>
> I was diagnosed with a rare, very aggressive cancer. The diagnosis
> came after surgery for what was assumed to be a benign condition --
> it was a big surprise.
>
> Funny thing was that a week after surgery I felt like $10 million
> bucks!  But I pretty much got the idea of how serious it could be
> when the first oncologist I visited wept at our initial meeting.
> There were no treatments to prevent recurrence, which was considered
> inevitable and which would be immediate and soon fatal. I felt it
> prudent to -- as they say -- "settle my affairs."
>
> Fast-forward to 2004 -- If this cancer was going to recur, it would
> have done so within the first year or so. It's 5 years in the past
> now, and I am healthier than I've been most of my adult life.  I am a
> rare (and very pleased!) survivor.
>
> Four things I want to pass on here:
>
> 1. STATISTICS CAN BE MISLEADING. Always doing my best to help myself
> was so important to me -- I think this hopeful message is vital to
> tell others as often as possible. I did not take on the idea that
> "the numbers are a death sentence" and just give up.  I kept active
> at being well, including moving toward being at peace with a strong
> possibility of dying. Statistics and survival rates are a good
> description of what happens across a GROUP of people.  But they are
> lousy predictors of what will happen to ANY ONE  PERSON...I am living
> proof of that.
>
> 2. FRUITS & VEGGIES KICKED MY BUTT! While I am not saying intensive
> use of fruits and veggies cured my cancer, they gave a HUGE boost to
> my body to fight it off. Before we had any clue I had cancer, I felt
> that I was dying -- and no one believed me or could tell me why. I
> decided to start juicing, though I was hesitant to because I tolerate
> sugar so very poorly. But fresh juice SIGNIFICANTLY started helping
> my failing strength in LITERALLY A DAY when nothing else could! I
> kept with it for several months after diagnosis.
>
> 3. YOU NEVER KNOW WHAT YOU ARE PREVENTING. The good care we give
> ourselves goes to wherever we need it the most, regardless of what
> our conscious wishes are.  Committing LONG TERM to a healthy
> lifestyle has benefits we may never fully understand. Before the
> cancer diagnosis, I had taken REALLY good care of myself for many
> years but was having a LOT of trouble recovering from an automobile
> accident a few years prior. I think so much of my energy went into
> fighting the cancer that it was difficult to otherwise heal.
> Unbeknownst to me, my body had been doing an AMAZING job!
>
> 4. ACID-PRODUCING FOODS MAY FEED TUMORS. Can we ever eat enough
> servings of fruits and veggies to offset high consumption of animal
> foods? Six months before I started to feel that I was dying, I went
> on a low-carb diet.  While I was eating LOTS of raw and cooked
> veggies, I was also eating more animal protein than I was used to.
> Within a month, I was experiencing rapidly-increasing health
> problems, including feeling generally and seriously unwell. Plant
> foods reduce intra-cellular acidity -- tumors thrive on acidity.
> While I am certain this diet didn't CAUSE the cancer (it was there
> already), the timing of events tells me it was a last straw and my
> body could no longer keep the cancer in check.